Over the course of "North of 60," Leon Deela's cousin Daniel has become more
and more prominent in Lynx River. Daniel is played by the multitalented Lorne
Cardinal, who earned a spot on the cover of TV Guide for his role in Canada:
A People's History.
Jimmy Herman was also in the room during this interview.
PW: Daniel Deela was introduced quite late in the series. Do you recall when you came in?
LC: Yeah, I came in when Augie [August Schellenberg] was guesting in one of the arcs. I started out as "Drunk #1." Then the next time I came back they gave him a name, and the next time they gave him a last name and two kids. So it's just been evolving all the time. And now I'm on council. It's nothing but up! [laughs]
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PW: Indeed. In fact, in the first movie, "In the Blue Ground," Daniel was a pretty important character.
LC: Yeah, I was out there discovering the body.
PW: By the way, those kids who play Daniel's children--the ones we saw with him out in the bush in that movie--are they the kids of the casting director?
LC: Yeah, her daughter was playing my daughter.
PW: What's Daniel up to in "Another Country"?
LC: He's on the council this time around.
PW: So he's back in town now?
LC: Yeah. I guess he's moved indoors.
PW: As a band council member, he must be involved in the decision about the hydro plant.
LC: I get the feeling that he's a possible weak link that the power people are focusing on. When Teevee gets into trouble, they want to continue with the project without him. So they come up and try to schmooze me, and to get people going on it without Teevee.
PW: Okay, hmmm, we'll have to see whether they succeed in pressuring Daniel!
PW: Meanwhile, you've been hosting the "Buffalo Tracks" variety show on APTN. You've had some of your "North of 60" friends on that show.
LC: Yeah. We're shooting it out of Toronto. I guess Dakota [House] and Nathaniel [Arcand] were just happening by, and we got them in for the show. So that was great. And Graham [Greene] was on the show as well.
PW: You took over as host because Evan Adams got so busy with his medical studies, right?
LC: Yeah. And I also just finished a BBC project, "Monsters We Met." There's this prehistory phase of man.
JH: I was in that one, too.
PW: Oh, really?
LC: Yeah, there was another one Jimmy's in.
PW: Where was that filmed, Jimmy?
JH: This was filmed in Lethbridge [Alberta].
PW: So that was for BBC, but it will probably be shown in Canada, too?
JH: I think it was for the Discovery Channel.
LC: They're actually two separate projects. There's "Walking with Monsters," and then the one I did is "Monsters We Met." And then there's a third one called "Ice World." All with the same kind of theme--prehistoric humans crossing the ice bridge for the first time.
PW: So you and Jimmy are in two different shows?
LC: Yeah.
PW: If it's being done in conjunction with Discovery, we'll probably get it in the States, too.
LC: Yeah, our release date is 2003.
PW: I guess they need a lot of time for post-production.
LC: Oh, lots.
PW: Have you seen any of those prehistoric shows Discovery has been doing? They're quite amazing.
LC: I've seen a little bit.
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PW: What else do you have coming up, Lorne?
LC: In May, there'll be the launch of "Insomnia," with Al Pacino, Hilary Swank, and Robin Williams. I was one of the cops in that, so I was in five or six scenes with Al Pacino.
PW: Where was that filmed?
LC: That was filmed in and around Vancouver, up in Squamish and around there.
PW: Where are you based?
LC: Toronto. So it was my first big feature with the big dogs. (laughs)I also do the voice of Wumpa on "Wumpa's World." I don't know if you know that show.
PW: No, I don't. Where does that air?
LC: YTV. I think it's also on APTN.
[Note: As of late 2002, the series is airing on Treehouse and APTN in Canada.]
PW: Hmm, I wonder whether we get that in the States. What's Wumpa?
LC: He's a walrus. He's a storyteller. So I tell the story for that day.
PW: That's done in a studio in Toronto, I presume?
LC: Yeah. It started in Halifax, then I was doing it in Toronto later.
PW: What do you do between TV and movie projects?
LC: I try to do as much theater as I can.
PW: Aha. Do you have anything coming up?
LC: Yeah, I'm going to Banff for a month to work on the aboriginal Berthold Brecht project. I think it'll be four weeks of rehearsal and then four public showings.
PW: Which play are you doing?
LC: We're taking segments out of three: The Caucasian Chalk Circle, The Good Person of Szechwan, and Saint Joan of the Stockyards.
Text and photos (c) 2002 Patricia F. Winter.
All rights reserved. For personal use only. Do not distribute to other persons by electronic or non-electronic means (including posting on a web site) without prior permission from the copyright owner.
Last updated 6/19/09